American Psychological Foundation

The first time Roger E. Kirk, PhD, taught a course on statistics, he fell in love with the subject. He
hopes to nurture that same passion in
other psychologists with a substantial
bequest to the APF to establish a Div. 5

(Quantitative and Qualitative Methods)
fund in his name.

“I’ve spent almost all my life writingstatistics books and teaching statisticscourses, and I want to promote the fieldbecause it is the backbone of psychologyresearch,” says Kirk, a distinguishedprofessor of psychology and neuroscienceand master teacher at Baylor Universityin Texas. “It’s an exciting field that isconstantly evolving, and it gives usthe tools we need to discern what ishappening in the research we do.”The fund will support a $50,000 award for the Quantitativeor Qualitative Author of the Year. The winner’s department alsowill receive $15,000. Additional money will fund APA’s Div. 5workshops, trainings and other activities on quantitative andqualitative methods. Kirk is also eager to direct a portion of themoney to graduate students who need financial assistance toattend events hosted by the division.

“I’d like to see more graduate students go into statistics,”Kirk says. “It’s not a field that typically attracts a lot of studentsbecause they are usually drawn to other areas like clinicalpsychology, but this fascinating discipline allows us to discoverBefore joining the faculty at Baylor University, Kirk earnedbachelor’s and master’s degrees in musicat Ohio State University, but he lacked thetalent needed to pursue a career in music,he says. Kirk met with a career counselor,and his assessment test results suggestedthat math or psychology would be a goodfit. He chose the latter and enrolled in theexperimental psychology PhD programat Ohio State University. His doctoralresearch centered on psychoacoustics.After receiving his PhD in 1955,he started working as the seniorpsychoacoustical engineer at the BaldwinPiano and Organ Company, where heconducted research to improve the soundquality of pianos and organs. In 1958, heaccepted a position as an assistant professorof psychology at Baylor, and learned thatthe department had a tradition of askingnew faculty members to teach statistics.

“It was considered an onerous task, but that’s when I
discovered how much I loved statistics,” Kirk says.

He went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in
mathematical psychology at the University of Michigan. Kirk has
written nearly 150 publications about statistics, including five
books. He is also a fellow of APA Divs. 1, 2, 5, 13 and 21, and has
served as a president and executive council member for Div. 5.
His awards include APA’s Jacob Cohen Award for Distinguished
Contributions to Teaching and Mentoring in 2005. n

For more information on APF and ways to support psychology, go
to www.apa.org/apf.

Gift to supportthe field of statisticsRoger E. Kirk has established an APF fund that will support a $50,000award for the Quantitative or Qualitative Author of the Year.By Heather Stringer